"It hurts," redshirt-junior linebacker Deshaun Davis said. "He came in with me. He was a guy that we looked up to as a leader. He was a brother first and foremost.

"To see him leave how he left is kind of disappointing. It kind of hurt for us from a family standpoint and from a team standpoint. But I'm sure he's going to get his head back on his shoulders. He's going to get on the right track."

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said he felt bad for White, who started 16 games for the Tigers between 2015 and 2016, throwing for 1,679 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions in 10 games last season.

"Sean's a tough guy. He's a warrior," Malzahn said. "But he made some bad decisions and I hurt for him. ... For me personally, anytime you've got to dismiss a player it's not a very good feeling."

White had just returned from a two-game suspension for undisclosed reasons prior to his arrest early Sunday.

Malzahn, whose statement dismissing the backup quarterback on Monday cited "poor decisions that are not in the best interest of our program, and more importantly, himself," would not detail the nature of White's missteps.

"It's difficult," wide receiver Ryan Davis said. "Everybody loves Sean around here. Sean is definitely one of the team favorites, so it's sad to see him go."

It was the third prominent player dismissed by Malzahn in as many seasons, following D'haquille Williams in Oct. 2015 and Jovon Robinson in Aug. 2016.

Williams posted a message of support for White on Tuesday.

When I was kick out of AU boy they was bashing me [?] [?] but when I was scoring they was praising me [?] hold your head Sean white #GodSpeed